Over the last few days the most talked about thing on the radio, television, on the bus/train, in coffee shops has been the Global economic crisis. All of as sudden the world’s financial systems are suddenly the concern of the average Jo or Joanna. We are told that the world is on the verge of an economic meltdown and things are going to get a lot tougher once again.
This general talk of doom and gloom and crisis language is obviously designed to shock or scare. It seemed to me that this is a perfect opportunity to learn a core lesson about the way we in the west have been operating for the last 5 decades.
The present crisis in western economies suggests that enriching ourselves at all costs has continued to be the primary focus of some, if not all of us despite the near Armageddon of 2008/9, aka the banking crisis. Within a few short years – probably more like months, the banks and governments reverted back to their old ways and we the citizens once again sat back, shut our eyes to the risks and used “hope” as our insurance against things getting worse. Rarely is hope sufficient by itself and now it looks like we are back at the brink once again.
I keep hearing that there is no alternative system with the same capacity as capitalism to lift the world's poor out of poverty and therefore, so long as we are able to give capitalism a set of ethics, everything will be OK.
One thing that has been a recurring feature of my life is if I choose to ignore the lesson that my life experience is gently trying to teach me – it doesn’t go away the message just gets louder. So if I fail to notice the gentle rain drops, I might get a rain shower next time, then a storm and if I really insist on sticking my head deep in the sand along comes hurricane Hugo, Ruth, Katrina etc.
Personally I am still getting over the mortgage endowment fiasco, the dot.com scandal not to mention the last recession which wasn’t that long ago, the oil price boom and the credit crunch. Yet despite these huge market failures we are trying to keep our capitalism a float whilst 2 /3rds of the world go hungry and the world’s climate is being sent out of balance with the prospect of even more devastating consequences.
It seems to me that the lesson that is begging to be learned here, is not one of how to repair a floored system, but perhaps a complete redesign.
The Hebrew word for crisis also means "birthing stool". A crisis is also a time of giving birth to something new. If our anguish about the economic situation in the world today leads a new understanding, then it could be a great opportunity for the nations of the west to give birth to something better.
Do you see your experiences, particularly the bad ones as teaching you something? And if so what is it that you choose to learn?
image: Word Cloud Bar Graph by digitalart
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I always welcome your thoughts and commets.